great to read some good stories. of course, all that matters is the width of a tire!

Originally Posted by mattm

How about you?

mine was 40" in a 70-mile road race. a 3-man break went early. i bided my time. the race finishes with an ~10' climb followed by a flat 3km finish. when we caught one of the riders who dropped from the break i countered. i passed the last survivor of the break early on the climb.

having the lead car slot in behind me was a great feeling. i had no thought about holding it, no looking back (until ~1.5km out where the course turns back on itself and offers a natural look). no early celebrations even as the announcer called out my name -- i worked as hard as i could for every second as this was stage 1 of a stage race that is often decided by seconds. i only savored it after crossing the line.

the most interesting part for me was that i literally wanted to quit the race about 20 miles before the finish. i thought about how i would explain that to my young boy. i couldn't.

my family was in town for that one but (wisely, IMO) was spending a 100+ day in the river instead of hanging out around a finish line. i had a feeling about that day but didn't want to force them to go spend time there in the heat.

hoping to build my strength and start joining break attempts as I get stronger.

Originally Posted by echappist

After two laps, tried to get a breakaway going, but no one was working, and pretty soon a ten second gap was caught by the pack. Third time up, i just spun my way up, only to realize i have opened a 5 second gap. I thought, WTF, and gunned for it. Surprisingly, no one chased, and i did the invisible handlebar for most of the lap. At the end of the fourth lap, i think i had a 20 second gap. Coming to the last climb, i was pretty exhausted, but spun my way up with a few out-of-the-saddle efforts. I thought i had a good 10 seconds opened up, so i sat up, did a quick celebration, and people were like, they are coming up. I hurried my ass over the finish line for first with 3-5 seconds to spare. This could have been embarrassing.

About 15 years ago our team was in an event in Cadiz that Igor Anton won as a 16 year old man-child by almost a quarter hour. There were no pros, obviously, but there were many Cat1 and Cat2 equivalents.

That was the best day of my cycling life, actually. I had ridden for two years in college at that point, was riding 20-25 hours weekly, racing weekly, weighed 135 and was at my absolute peak ability. And to be gapped so effortlessly by a literal child, and to be continually ridden away from by lone said child within an actively working and motivated group, it just put into perspective how futile my naive dreams were. It was soul-crushing to see that some unknown Spanish child could destroy 18-22 year olds. And if that's how a little boy rode, then how did Jan Ullrich ride?

Those naive dreams we all have. Mine stem from a crushing, epic, late flyer to dominate a Cat3/4 crit field of 30 nobodies in the ever-prestigious 1997 Roozen's Nursery & Powell Dodge/Chrysler Criterium of Prince Georges County. I must've won by nearly ten seconds. I can't believe US Postal wasn't trying to get me into development, like, immediately after that incredibly heroic and dominant performance!!

Back in 2007, Cat 4 Schooley's road race , hilly circuit race with a ~8 minute rather steep climb, I dropped the pack on the 2nd lap of the climb, took a wrong turn... got back on course, caught back up with the pack, dropped them again the 3rd lap of the climb, and won by a few minutes after climbing up the hill for a 4th time. I am still trying to figure out how I did that.

Back in 2007, Cat 4 Schooley's road race , hilly circuit race with a ~8 minute rather steep climb, I dropped the pack on the 2nd lap of the climb, took a wrong turn... got back on course, caught back up with the pack, dropped them again the 3rd lap of the climb, and won by a few minutes after climbing up the hill for a 4th time. I am still trying to figure out how I did that.

Back in 2007, Cat 4 Schooley's road race , hilly circuit race with a ~8 minute rather steep climb, I dropped the pack on the 2nd lap of the climb, took a wrong turn... got back on course, caught back up with the pack, dropped them again the 3rd lap of the climb, and won by a few minutes after climbing up the hill for a 4th time. I am still trying to figure out how I did that.

About 15 years ago our team was in an event in Cadiz that Igor Anton won as a 16 year old man-child by almost a quarter hour. There were no pros, obviously, but there were many Cat1 and Cat2 equivalents.

That was the best day of my cycling life, actually. I had ridden for two years in college at that point, was riding 20-25 hours weekly, racing weekly, weighed 135 and was at my absolute peak ability. And to be gapped so effortlessly by a literal child, and to be continually ridden away from by lone said child within an actively working and motivated group, it just put into perspective how futile my naive dreams were. It was soul-crushing to see that some unknown Spanish child could destroy 18-22 year olds. And if that's how a little boy rode, then how did Jan Ullrich ride?

Those naive dreams we all have. Mine stem from a crushing, epic, late flyer to dominate a Cat3/4 crit field of 30 nobodies in the ever-prestigious 1997 Roozen's Nursery & Powell Dodge/Chrysler Criterium of Prince Georges County. I must've won by nearly ten seconds. I can't believe US Postal wasn't trying to get me into development, like, immediately after that incredibly heroic and dominant performance!!

I love the hero talk. I am King of the Bums.

we are all pack fodder somewhere, even at absolute peak ability, good story

are you a tall/lanky kid? you'd probably be good at TTs, if you tried.

I also have found that working the tt bike helps a good amount to my ability to dig in and make power on the road bike, on the flats. Before to get near the power I had yesterday I would have needed a sustained hill.

If i spent hours on my tt bike, could actually hit my power numbers (380+/365 for 20/60 minute efforts) then i would be good. When all i can muster is low 340s for 20-30 minutes, and can only average 27-28 mph on rolling to flat tts i can't do anything against the people in my area (one just got 5th at tt natz).

If you would like to see the end of an amazing race. Go to second 36 of this 1.00 minute you tube video. You'll witness the absolute best bike handler I ever raced against. You will see him decimate a world class field of Aussie and Brit cyclists at the end of a 10 mile race for Gold. Enjoy.

If i spent hours on my tt bike, could actually hit my power numbers (380+/365 for 20/60 minute efforts) then i would be good. When all i can muster is low 340s for 20-30 minutes, and can only average 27-28 mph on rolling to flat tts i can't do anything against the people in my area (one just got 5th at tt natz).

Position, position, position. Adaptation adaptation adaptation.

Time on the TT bike is crucial. And slight tweaks can see double figure improvements in either aero drag or power production. Tell your parents you want to go to Disneyland and come out.

If you would like to see the end of an amazing race. Go to second 36 of this 1.00 minute you tube video. You'll witness the absolute best bike handler I ever raced against. You will see him decimate a world class field of Aussie and Brit cyclists at the end of a 10 mile race for Gold. Enjoy.

My first introduction to him was the Winning magazine (first edition?) where they cover him being paralyzed after getting hit by a truck. I never saw him in action until just now so thanks.

"...during the Lance years, being fit became the No. 1 thing. Totally the only thing. It’s a big part of what we do, but fitness is not the only thing. There’s skills, there’s tactics … there’s all kinds of stuff..." Tim Johnson